[Display letter Q card.]

The word “quietly” begins with this letter. What is the name of this letter?

Letter Q says /q/, just like in the word “quietly.” /q/, /q/, quietly. Let’s together say /q/, /q/, quietly.

Who would like to tell us another word that begins with the letter Q?

Now let’s read a book!

[See Week 3, Day 1 of Language/Literacy for a description and examples of how to approach today’s book reading. Key aspects are summarized below:

• Display book cover and encourage children to discuss what the book might be about.
• Explain that reading a book is a good way to learn new words. We will talk about some words each time we read the book this week. Remind children of the Words We Understand chart.
• Read title of book as you point to each word. Point to and say the names of the author and illustrator.
• Introduce and provide child-friendly descriptions of two novel words included in today’s book. Write words on the chart as you point to and say each again.
• Point to the first text word and explain this is where we begin reading the book. Read the book verbatim. Pause to discuss words, events, or characters that seem confusing to children. Point to and describe illustrations directly related to book text.
• After reading the book, engage children in recalling main parts of the book and novel words emphasized today:
  • What is our book about?
  • Who were the main characters?
  • What happened next?
• Engage children in a brief discussion of novel words emphasized today. Display and discuss book pictures that pertain to the word.
  • What does each word mean?
  • How was the word used in today’s book?]

Offer the Week 31, Day 1 activity to review adding.

Support children in using counters to practice counting on as part of reading a book about fish.

Display the book cover and explain that our book will help us practice counting. The group of fish in our book keeps getting larger. We will use counting on with counters (circles). We will pretend each counter is one fish.

Distribute 10 counters to each child. Invite each child to put a counter in front of him/her. Explain that we will pretend the counter in front of us is called “me” in our book. As we read the book, we will put other counters near (but not next to) the counter we pretend is “me.” The one counter (me) is always a group of one in today’s activity. Demonstrate each action with your own group of 10 counters.

On each page that adds more fish to the group, encourage children to (a) form a group that has the same number of counters as the number of fish added in the book, and (b) count the total number of counters in front of them after the book gives the total number of fish in the group. Example: When the text describes “one green fish,” lead children in placing one counter near (but not next to) the counter that we pretend is “me.” After the book text says “one green fish plus me makes two,” pause to engage children in counting the two groups (one each) together. As more fish are added, always begin counting the larger group and move to the group of one counter (me). Example: after “three smiling fish” are introduced in the book, children form and count a group of three fish and then count on to the one “me” fish. This corresponds to the book text of “three smiling fish and me makes four.”

As you read the book, emphasize how the group gets larger when more fish join it. A group gets bigger when we add items to it. Also, point out that “me” is the small brown fish on pages that count fish.

When you read about a “suit of scales” in the opening segment of the book, explain that a suit is a set of clothes that are worn together. But fish wear a “suit of scales,” not a suit of clothes. Remind children that we know fish scales are thin, flat, and hard pieces of skin (Science Week 13, Day 1).

We are learning what it means to move to a new home. Today let’s talk about how the rooms of a home can be different when we move.

[Display picture of kitchen with furnishings.]

• What things do you see in this picture of a family’s kitchen? (table, chairs, etc.) [Display picture of same kitchen without furnishings.]
• Here is a picture of the same kitchen. What is different in this picture of the same room? (no table, no chairs, etc.)
• What do you think happened to the things that were in the kitchen in the first picture? (packed up, being transported to new home)

[Display picture of a different kitchen without furnishings.]

Here is a picture of the kitchen in the family’s new home. The family’s things have not been unpacked and put in the new home. The kitchen in the new home is empty. It is ready for the new family to arrive.

[Display side by side the pictures of the empty kitchens. Point to the “new” kitchen when described below.]

• What is similar in these two kitchens?
• What is different in these two kitchens?
• Where do you think the family might put some of their things in the kitchen in the new home?

People who move to a new place need to become familiar with how things work. Familiar means to know about a place or thing. We are familiar with our classroom. We know where we eat, where to find the bathroom, where to put a dirty tissue, and where our play centers are located.

Children need to become familiar with a different home. One thing children need to know about a new home is where the light switches are located and how to turn lights on and off.

What are some other things children need to know about a new home? (where doors to the outside are located, where trash goes, where recyclables go, where to put dirty clothes, where bikes are stored)

The rooms in a new home are usually different than the rooms in the home a family used to live in. We talked about some things children need to learn about a new home. What do you think is the most important thing a child should learn about a different home?

Sometimes we play a game called It’s Raining, It’s Pouring. What kinds of sounds do we pretend to make in our game? (wind, raindrops, heavy rainstorm)

This week we will learn about several kinds of weather. Rain is a kind of weather.

Water falls from the sky when it rains. We know that plants need water to grow. Rain is a good thing for the plants in fields and gardens. The rain also adds water to rivers, lakes, and streams.

Rain can create a puddle of water on the ground, sidewalk, or street.

Have you ever seen or walked through a puddle of water? Tell us about it.

Sometimes a lot of rain comes down at the same time. We call this a heavy rain. A heavy rain is like the sky pouring a lot of rain on the earth. The word “pouring” is in the name of our game It’s Raining, It’s Pouring.

We might hear a loud noise during a heavy rain. A loud noise during a heavy rain is called thunder. We pretend to make the sound of thunder when we play our game It’s Raining, It’s Pouring. Remember, we clap our hands loudly and then say “bam, pow.”

We might also see a flash of light in the sky during a heavy rain. This flash of light is called lightning.

[Display picture of a thunderstorm with lightning.]

• Have you ever seen lightning in a heavy rain?
• What did it look like?

We need to stay in a safe place during a heavy rain that has lightning. We should go inside a building we know, like our house or our center.

Sometimes places can get too much rain. There can be a flood when there is too much rain.

[Display picture of a flood.]

A flood happens when rivers and lakes rise too high because there has been so much rain. Land and streets can be covered in a lot of water. Sometimes even cities and towns can become flooded. Look at what is happening to the houses in this picture of a street flooded with water.

[If time permits:]

Let’s play It’s Raining, It’s Pouring to remind us of the sounds of thunder and lightning we may hear when it rains.

[Lead children in playing It’s Raining, It’s Pouring. This can be found in Self-Regulation Week 21, Day 1.]

Today we talked about rain. We know that rain is very important because water helps plants to grow. We learned that a heavy rain might have thunder and lightning. What should we do to stay safe during a heavy rain with thunder and lightning? (go inside a building we know)